JJ72 - London, UK, Summer 2001
By: Toby L
JJ72 are a most outstanding of UK guitar acts. Having released numerous singles - three of which entered the top-40 - and an album that's reached gold-status in this country, they're still far from where they aim to be.
The key factor which allows them to stand out is their scope for songwriting: vast, daring and expansive, yet ultimately credible and appealing to tune-seekers across the globe. So, when you hear such anthems as 'Oxygen' or 'Snow' for the first time - note the naturally occurring theme of the titles - it's a truly powerful and deeply exciting experience.
Thus, the demand for their sound has been commanded from around the world. In fact - surrounding the time of this evening's interview - a story broke out that the group had signed an American deal with Columbia. It's no surprise - the way things are going, this will just be the first of many significant overseas successes; it's common knowledge now that many parts of Europe and Japan have already subscribed to what they have to offer as a group.
In fact, such is the popularity and busyness of the group, that only two of the three members can join us here today, in a poky, West London location. Frontman, Mark Greaney, was doing promo elsewhere, leaving Fergal Matthews - the self-confessed clumsy drummer - and Hilary Woods - the notoriously attractive, female bassist - to take to the rockfeedback chair for a deep grilling. Compared to Greaney, these two don't get so much of a look-in from the press, which was why we were especially excited to see how it would go. The results are as below...
It's clear that - the group having established themselves within the UK and native Ireland so well - the next stage for JJ72 to rise to is in other lands - what impression do they want potential foreign fans to obtain from hearing them for the first time?
'I don't think they should care about what views any other country has got of us,' starts Fergal, 'whether they're from the UK or anywhere in Europe or Japan - they should just take it how they want for themselves.'
'Yeah, I agree,' bursts Hilary, 'because when you go to France and certain other places in Europe, some people are very sceptical about UK bands because there's usually a lot of hype and sensationalism following them. However, I think we're doing really well over there - judging from the live gigs especially... I mean, we - as a band - have got substance behind the hype.
'People have thought that we're a lot heavier than they expected us to be and we seem to be able to cross over the language barrier quite well. For example, some of the Japanese fans don't have a clue what the lyrics mean, but they all know them and are all singing them!'
Presumably, this creates considerable pressure for you to follow up with a more successful album?
Both answering at once, Fergal blurts, 'Well, obviously yeah', whilst Miss Woods exclaims loudly, 'Oh yeah!'
However, then follows a silence...
... And then laughter because no one chooses to bother answering first.
Hilary decides to start, affirming, 'Luckily, we're the biggest critics of ourselves, aren't we?'
Fergal responds, nodding. 'Yeah, it's true! We'll release a single and it has to go to a certain place... I mean, when we release the next single, we'd really want it to go top-20 - and we'd make sure it'd get there! We can't release something that we're not sure of...'
'The highest expectations of the next record mainly come from ourselves,' sums up Hilary, before continuing, 'so - in that regard - it's great. We're not Coldplay either; Coldplay have sold millions and so they'd have immense pressure (for creating the second album).'
'The new material is a kind of progression and a little more mature,' muses Matthews, cagily. 'There's no real change in personality or anything like that, though.'
'There are new elements, structure-wise, and we're stronger at playing our instruments,' reasons Hilary for the betterment in their sound. 'There are more ideas in what we're doing now - it's not as straightforward.'
If you look back at what you've done then, are there any specific tracks that you wish you had recorded differently?
Instantly replying before the question's fully put to them, Fergal defensively utters, 'No, no way. It just captures a time: it was the first album and you don't want to go back and redo any of it; you've just got to let it go and record the second...'
How would you say you've progressed as musicians since the last album?
Hilary briefly ponders on this. 'We're definitely much better and more comfortable with what we're doing in a lot of things, musically.'
'We're trying out so many more ideas as well,' includes Fergal, enthusiastically. On this point, he reveals some of their underlying, quiet confidence. 'We still want to be the biggest band in the world - and it makes it easier to become that if you maintain the ambition to do it.'
This is all very good, but what aspects of the job ruin it slightly - what do you least enjoy doing in your positions?
Hilary's face drops just at the thought of it all. 'We do so much promo and interviews that it occasionally gets a bit much... You can become a bit robotic with your answering!'
'Yeah - especially when you've got like ten interviews, two TV shows and f**king four radio shows to do in a day,' grumbles Fergal.
On hearing all of the group's displeasures at having to extensively promote their music on a larger than average scale, we noticed a change in their voice-tones. Gone was the chipper and fiery response and, instead, was the drifty, unfocussed return to a question. This was when we felt the overpowering urge to put forward a question that other interviewers would be too scared to ask.
Out of all the questions put to you today, what percentage of them would you say you've been asked before in an interview?
There was an awkward silence for a few seconds. Then, suddenly, in only the way that the drop dead gorgeous bassist could utter, in her soft, Irish voice, the response was given.
'I'd say 100%.'
This didn't please us. We slammed shut the book of questions previously prepared and decided to continue the course of the interview improv-style, probing them on matters that no one else would have dared to ask. Fergal and Hilary's faces looked suitably nervous.
What do you want to talk about in this interview that you've never talked about before?
The inevitable awkward silence followed again. Suddenly, a flood of answers arrived at the same time to try and shield the embarrassment of the situation.
Hilary opens frantically, 'Well, we do interviews to promote the music that we do,' and Fergal follows, 'There'd be little point doing them if we couldn't get across certain ideas...'
Woods then carries on, raising an interesting twist on the point. 'A lot of bands use promotion as a podium to talk about something political, but we don't do that because we're still young and our opinions haven't fully formed on a lot of things.'
But don't you feel that journalists miss something when they try and write about you? For example - Fergal - you're seen as the accident-prone lunatic, and Hilary - you're viewed by many as the bombshell babe of the group...
Sounding pleased that the full picture isn't revealed about her persona, Hilary responds 'I think one expects to be missed... We don't take it to heart.'
The shaved-head drummer then gets to the main issue at hand. 'You can't treat journalists - or writers - like a load of shit, because if you annoy somebody, they'll go away and say to someone, 'God, he's a c**t!' If you're an arsehole to these people, they'll just go and write something awful about you - there are just rules about the way you have to behave... A lot of politics involved.'
Do you think that journalists still have got the power to end band's careers?
For a minute sounding as though she was going to answer the other way, Woods says, 'I think, yeah, journalists definitely still have the power to write off bands, but - then again - people that are really into music don't take everything they read for granted. Anyone with initiative will probably go into what's been written about, or listen to it for themselves.
'I wouldn't be totally disheartened by a bad review - bad press is better than no press, if you ask me.'
On the topic of quality bands getting the attention they deserve, Mark claimed in an interview that the music scene of then was lacking that 'special thing' - do you feel that this 'special thing' has come back into current music?
'I think it's certainly on the way back and it feels like it's going somewhere again,' murmurs Matthews idealistically. However, grinning, he changes his attitude. 'Or maybe it's not, but it definitely seems like a better moment now!'
Hilary adds, peering down at the floor thoughtfully, 'There's more authentic music in the charts again, with bands I like, like Muse and Starsailor doing well. The manufactured pop stuff isn't really that annoying to us, because it's just in another world to what we're doing.'
Due to this spontaneous detour - mid-flow into the interview - time has flown us by.
As a final thought for the interview, what would you like to say to the world in this whole respect?
Fergal clenches it. 'Interviews are more talking about the music - we tend to reveal more in the actual music...'
And - with that - Fergal lifts himself from a comfy, if slightly discoloured sofa-seat, shakes hands and walks out. Hilary follows suit, removing herself from the desk upon which she was seated, following her bandmate to the exit. But - before leaving - she halts in her step and turns round. Smiling gently and subtly fluttering her eye-lashes, she remarks, 'That was fun,' and leaves the room. Yeah, we agree.
Since this article, in early March 2003, it was confirmed that bassist Hilary Woods had left the band.
Artists in this article: JJ72